What is @author?

@author is a new forum that connects readers with authors and others in the reading community by allowing readers to ask questions about authors and books. Readers can ask questions from the Kindle by highlighting a passage, typing “@author” followed by the question, and using the Tweet/Share option, or from the Amazon Author Page.

Currently participating authors include:

• Ted Dekker
• Timothy Ferriss
• Marie Force
• Barbara Freethy
• Steven Johnson
• Robert Kiyosaki
• J.A. Konrath
• John Locke
• Elisa Lorello
• C.J. Lyons
• Debbi Mack
• Brad Meltzer
• Scott Nicholson
• Susan Orlean
• Deborah Reed
• James Rollins

Who can participate in @author?

Readers! Anyone who has purchased items from Amazon can reply to an existing question or ask a new one. All visitors to Amazon.com can read any current question or answer.

What should I ask and answer?

Share your questions about the author or one of the author’s books. You can also provide answers you think will help other readers. For example:

• Ask a question about the characters in the book (“When Eric asked Marie to meet him at the coffee shop, did he already know they would end up together or was it really just a business deal?”)
• Ask a question about the information in the book (“Can I eat any dessert and still stick to this diet, or are sweets not allowed at all?”)
• Ask a question about the author (“How old were you when you learned to speak Spanish?”)
• Ask a question about the author’s writing style (“Your style reminds me of Toni Morrison; have her books influenced you at all?”)
• Answer a question about the characters or information in the book (“Eric must have known, because before they meet ‘his mind was whirling, and it wasn’t because he was worried about the deal.’ I think this has to mean he’s thinking about Marie.”)
• Answer a question about the author (“Her biography says that her grandparents spoke to her in Spanish, but she wasn’t really fluent until a study abroad trip in college.”)

What shouldn’t I ask or answer?

Behave as if you were a guest at a friend’s dinner party. Please treat the Amazon.com community with respect. Do not post:

• Profane or obscene, inflammatory or spiteful comments
• Messages that abuse, denigrate or threaten others
• Text or articles written by someone else, even with attribution for the author, except for brief quotations from a book, article or other product related to the discussion
• Any personal information about children under 13
• Descriptions that intrude on the privacy of another person, including revealing personally identifiable information such as their name or address
• Text that promotes illegal or immoral conduct
• Repeated posts that make the same point excessively
• Repeated unwelcome messages that harass or embarrass other customers or authors
• Repeated posts that promote an item in the Amazon.com catalog
• Any form of "spam," including advertisements, contests, or other solicitations for other websites or companies; or any URL link that includes a "referrer" tag or affiliate code.

Do not impersonate another person, including an Amazon.com employee.

We recommend that you do not post your phone number or e-mail address.

How do I find and read questions and answers

@author is a feature on Amazon Author Pages. To find an Author Page for a participating author, either search for the author’s name in the Books department and click their linked name in one of the search results, or visit one of the Detail pages for their books and click on the author’s name next to the book image. You can also get to an Author Page from the More About the Author section on a book page. On Author Pages, under the author biography, you will find a link to the @author feature. If there are no questions yet, you’ll see a yellow “Ask a question” button. If there are questions, you’ll see a link to view all questions about the author. There are also links to questions about specific books next to each book in the author’s bibliography.

How do I post a question from the Author Page?

If there are no questions yet, click the “Ask a question” button on the Amazon Author Page. If there are already questions, click the smaller “Ask a question” link.

How do I post a question from the Kindle?

• Place the cursor at the beginning of the passage you’d like to ask a question about using the 5-way controller, and press down to anchor it.
• Highlight the passage using the 5-way controller.
• Enter your question about the passage you highlighted; beginning with the phrase “@author” Question length is limited to 100 characters if the question is asked from the Kindle. If you would like to ask a longer question, feel free to ask the question from the Amazon Author Page.
• Select "save & share" from the options at the bottom of the note window when finished.

If you don't have a Twitter account associated with your Amazon.com account, you'll have the option to press Alt + Enter to manage your social network registration before your message is posted. Please note that questions asked from the Kindle are limited to 100 characters. You can read more about posting to Twitter on our Help pages.

How am I notified of an answer to my question?

When you ask an @author question from your Kindle or from the Amazon Author Page, you will automatically receive an e-mail notification when a new answer to your question has been posted.

If you would like to stop receiving e-mails when there are new answers, you can return to the question you asked and click the “Stop tracking question” link.

When will the author answer my question?

Authors participating in @author are actively involved in their social communities.

In order to keep writing the books you love and due to the volume of questions they receive, authors will not be able to respond to all questions. If your question is answered, we’ll send you an e-mail notification.

How do I post an answer?

From the Amazon Author Page, click the “See all questions” link. Click on the question you’d like to answer. Enter your answer in the field at the bottom of the page and click “Submit.”

How do I edit or delete my question or answer?

Click “Edit this answer” or “edit this question” on the question or answer you have posted. (You need to be signed in with the same account you used to write the post.) You can then change the text or delete the post.

Will more authors participate in @author?

Though we have launched the beta program of @author with a small number of carefully chosen authors, we would like to extend the program to more authors in the future. Stay tuned!

What if I find an inappropriate question or answer, or one that detracts from the discussion?

If you find a post that feel is obscene, threatening, pornographic, another person’s words, or otherwise violates Amazon.com’s guidelines outlined here or in the Conditions of Use, please click “Report abuse” and submit the report.

How can I keep track of new answers to an interesting question?

Click the “Track this question” link below the question you’d like to track. When you first request email updates, you may need to complete a one-time email verification.

To stop tracking a question, return to the question you were tracking and click the “Stop tracking question” link.

What do I do if my question or answer was deleted?

We regularly investigate messages that have been reported to Amazon.com as violating our guidelines. If you feel your message was removed inappropriately, contact us.

Do messages impact my Top Reviewer ranking?

Top Reviewer rankings are based on Customer Reviews only. Your messages, and the votes cast on them, do not impact your Top Reviewer ranking.

How can I send you my feedback and suggestions?

We want to hear what you love about @author, and how we can make it better. Send us your feedback in an email to atauthor-feedback@amazon.com.